The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said New Delhi expects the eighth BRICS Summit to take place as scheduled despite Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's suspension from office.
MEA official spokesperson Vikas Swarup said the date was mutually decided in consultation with all the concerned parties. "We are aware of the internal political developments in Brazil. We await to see how things pan out, but the decision was taken by the Brazilian Government. So, we expect those decisions to be continued," he added.
Rousseff has been stripped of her presidential duties for at least six months after Brazil's senators voted 55-22 to impeach her and put her on trial. The lawmakers accepted the charges against Rousseff, accusing her of manipulating government accounts to hide a growing public deficit ahead of her re-election in 2014.
Rousseff, Brazil's first female president, will have to step aside for at least six months while she is tried in the upper house and her judges will be senators, many of whom are accused of more serious crimes, reports the Guardian.
Vice-President Michel Temer will now assume the presidency while Rousseff's trial takes place. India will host the eighth BRICS Summit in Goa on October 15-16 this year. This will be the second time that India will host the BRICS summit. It last hosted the fourth BRICS Summit in New Delhi in 2012.
